Fewer police out on the beat

Fewer police are out on the Hawke's Bay beat.

The number of general duties constables among Hawke's Bay and East Coast police has dropped to little more than a third of all sworn staff, raising questions from Napier MP Stuart Nash and other opposition politicians about frontline policing.

According to figures released yesterday by Labour police spokesman and Te Tai Tokerau MP Kelvin Davis, the police Eastern District, at April, had 147 general duties constables, those on non-specialist duties. It was about 35 per cent of the region's allocation of 417 sworn staff.

The figures show that in September 2009 there were 183 general duties constables in the region, which was about 43 per cent of sworn staff at that time.

All 12 districts except Counties Manukau have, however, experienced cuts in the numbers of general duties constables, headed by a 31.34 per cent cut in Auckland and 32.3 per cent in Wellington, which compares with a 19.67 per cent cut in the Eastern District.

The number of general duties constables nationally now stands at 2593, a reduction of almost 18 per cent since 2009.

Police Eastern District commander Superintendent Sandra Venables was unable to be contacted last night by Hawke's Bay Today but she said, last August, new roles had been created under a new police operating model, such as neighbourhood policing teams, the crime reporting line and criminal justice support units.

In November she said the district was conducting a review of all frontline positions to see how staff and resources could be used more efficiently.

"While frontline staff numbers will not be reduced, there may be changes to some roles," she said at the time. "It's all about putting our staff in the right places at the right time to prevent and respond appropriately to crime in our community."

Mr Nash says the Government has allowed the number of constables handling crime and complaints to fall year after year, and latest available data showed the district has the highest rate of criminal offences per 10,000 people of any of the districts throughout the country.

He said the review in the region "looks likely" to see a drop from 436 sworn staff down to 417 in the district.

"In the context of these statistics, it seems astounding that in this year's budget the Government cut a whopping $15.3 million from funding to the New Zealand police force," he said.

"Police budgets have been frozen for five years and these cuts will see fewer community and rural constables. This is a major issue in Napier, where we are already seeing resourcing decisions lead to cuts in police numbers and reduced services. Police say they want a higher presence in New Zealand communities, but this is not achievable without adequate resources, and we are now seeing the opposite happen", he said.